diff --git a/drivers/mtd/mtdchar.c b/drivers/mtd/mtdchar.c
index 25bbbc3aa665fb778385e8a89b426322cce23edf..2020a169ed9c79098467c0815bfbdd56eae35497 100644
--- a/drivers/mtd/mtdchar.c
+++ b/drivers/mtd/mtdchar.c
@@ -949,8 +949,6 @@ static int mtdchar_ioctl(struct file *file, u_int cmd, u_long arg)
 			return -EINVAL;
 		if (copy_from_user(&oinfo, argp, sizeof(oinfo)))
 			return -EFAULT;
-		if (!mtd->lock_user_prot_reg)
-			return -EOPNOTSUPP;
 		ret = mtd_lock_user_prot_reg(mtd, oinfo.start, oinfo.length);
 		break;
 	}
diff --git a/include/linux/mtd/mtd.h b/include/linux/mtd/mtd.h
index 7cd56d2b9419a6e55538919953e3d67a817b4320..a994129ede55ea77057b5f6bd016aea1a4b69380 100644
--- a/include/linux/mtd/mtd.h
+++ b/include/linux/mtd/mtd.h
@@ -389,6 +389,8 @@ static inline int mtd_write_user_prot_reg(struct mtd_info *mtd, loff_t to,
 static inline int mtd_lock_user_prot_reg(struct mtd_info *mtd, loff_t from,
 					 size_t len)
 {
+	if (!mtd->lock_user_prot_reg)
+		return -EOPNOTSUPP;
 	return mtd->lock_user_prot_reg(mtd, from, len);
 }